Barriers to Sustainable Forest Management in Africa

Barriers to Sustainable Forest Management in Africa Crispen Marunda (CIFOR)

Overview • Definition of SFM • Instruments for SFM • Barriers to SFM • Opportunities

SFM (1993 Helsinki Declaration ) “the stewardship and use of forests and forest lands in a way, and at a rate, that maintains their biodiversity, productivity, regeneration capacity, vitality and their potential to fulfil, now and in the future, relevant ecological, economic and social functions, at local, national and global levels, and that does not cause damage to other ecosystems”

SFM: An evolving concept • Elements of SFM • Trade-off between production and conservation objectives • Inter-generational equity • ecological, economic and social benefits at local, national and global levels,

SFM practices/elements • CBNRM • Forests and Forest Products Certification • Joint Forest Management • Adaptive Collaborative Management • Out-grower forest plantation schemes • Ngitili – a traditional system of forest closure

Barriers to SFM • Based on a set of random and varied pre-conditions: • Political • Environmental • Economic • Social

Classification of barriers • Direct barriers • these are explicit and can singly influence SFM outcomes • Indirect barriers • these play important roles, but are not limiting

Direct barriers to SFM • Unclear resource ownership and/or tenure rights • no assurance effect • no realizability effect • Ineffective legislation and policies • Financial or legal disincentives • Policies not based on sound science

Direct barriers to SFM • Weak institutions • Slow in adapting to new policies and technologies • Poor service delivery • Poor governance • lack of open democratic dialogue • lack of transparency • Corruption manifested as illegal harvesting of forest products

Direct barriers to SFM • Poor access to markets • No information • Linkages between producers and buyers is weak • High transaction costs • Strong disincentives • Who pays for SFM?

Direct barriers to SFM • Rent seeking behaviour of public institutions, and powerful elites • Taxes and permits • Elite capture of benefits by a few powerful individuals • Corruption • Unequal benefit sharing

Indirect barriers • Low value of forest resources • Average contribution to GDP <2% • Project vs programmatic approach to SFM • Short vs long term view • Small scale nature of forest operations • Lack of scaling up strategies • Enactment of legislation concerning SFM • Slow • Forest user/community buy-in

Indirect barriers (cont’d) • International influence and initiatives • Confusing messages • Lack of political will • Lack of financial/social capital • Lack of convergence between social and science based technical forestry • Complex C&I for SFM • Communities generally risk-averse

Opportunities for SFM • Tenure reforms happening across Africa • Developing markets for certified forests and products, e.g. timber, honey • Market-based instruments for environmental services are being developed • Payment for environmental services • Private sector involvement in SFM • Corporate social responsibility • Research and policy dialogue happening • Africa Dry Forest project

Opportunities for SFM • Democratic change and hence good governance • Pan-African initiatives • NEPAD • Commission for Africa • HIPC debt relief (15 countries so far have benefited • Peer review mechanisms

Opportunities for SFM • Changes in concession giving more space to communities • Abundant land • Tree planting or other investments in NR could enhance tenure security

Barriers to Sustainable Forest Management in Africa